Ward 11

Ward 11 Brian's Beat: Discussing the Budget for 2017 - Part 1

Share

Yes

Article Date:
6/3/2016

Page Content

On Monday, May 30th 2016, Council received an
update report leading up to the Action
Plan Mid-Cycle Adjustments in November 2016. This is the work going into
the development of next year’s budget. Obviously, the economy has changed in
the last two years so the focus of the budget is twofold:

1)On
the capital side, how do we use our capital budget as an economic driver and
increase our rate of spending so we get the money out the door, and create the jobs
quicker? We are also examining our capital projects for the ones that will
provide both the best economic benefit and community benefit.

2)On
the operating side, which is where the property tax goes, we are looking for
continued efficiency gains. Over the past 2 years, City Administration have
found a total of $86M /year in efficiency gains. That search for efficiency is
continuing.

We have in place a current budget that has a property tax
increase of 4.7% for 2017. With further efficiency gains and one time spending,
we can decrease that to 3.2% without affecting service. That will mean no
increase to service, but no cuts either. Council on Monday asked City staff to
come back with a series of scenarios ranging from the 3.2% to a 0.0% tax
increase. A 0% increase translates into a cut of $66M in services. We have
asked for options across that range. These options will come back to City
Council on Monday, June 27th 2016.

This content represents the personal views and opinions of the Ward Councillor and should not be taken as a statement of policy of The City of Calgary. The inclusion of any external content does not imply endorsement by The City of Calgary.